North Carolina events › Living
Living in North Carolina, from public data only: the state’s population is about 10,730,404, the median household income is $72,388 a year and median gross rent is $1,228 a month (Census ACS 2020-2024), and BEA puts the state’s 2024 price level at 94.3 where the U.S. is 100.
- Population10,730,404ACS 2020-2024
- Median Income$72,388per household, a year
- Median Rent$1,228gross, a month
- Median Home Value$288,900owner-occupied
- Relocating to North CarolinaState figures and a metro comparisonStart
- Cost of Living by MetroBEA price parities with Census rent, income and home valuesPrices
- Rent and Home Prices by CityCensus rent, home value and income for the larger citiesCities
- Jobs and UnemploymentBLS unemployment rates for the state and eight metrosJobs
- New Resident ChecklistDriver license, registration, voting, taxes, schoolsChecklist
How We Build This Section
Every figure comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics or a North Carolina agency page, and is printed with its source and the date we read it. Figures we work out ourselves, such as rent as a share of income, are marked derived. We do not rank places as safe or best, we say nothing about who lives where, and we give no health or insurance advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the numbers come from?
Census ACS 2020-2024 five-year estimates (summary files), BEA 2024 regional price parities, BLS local area unemployment, and the NCDMV, NC Department of Revenue, NC State Board of Elections and NC Department of Public Instruction pages named on each page.
Are these figures current?
Census estimates cover 2020 to 2024 and are updated once a year; BEA parities are for 2024; BLS rates are preliminary monthly figures. Each page shows the period and the date we read it.
Sources
- Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-year, B01003 total population
- BEA regional price parities by metro, MARPP (2024)
- BLS metro area unemployment table
Read on October 27, 2026. Each ACS figure is an estimate with a 90 percent margin of error, shown as ± beside it. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.
Cite this page: It's North Carolina, “Living in North Carolina”, itsnorthcarolina.com/living/ (updated ). By the It's North Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.